1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aluminum receiver, preferably for use with an aluminum tarp bow to form a strong tarp frame that can be swung up, totally out of the way, from the left or right, by a driver.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The top opening of trucks, trailers and other containers are often covered with a tarp or other covering which forms a protective canopy, covering the load. A plurality of bows spanning the width of the top opening forms a frame for supporting the tarp.
When the bows are fixed to the side walls of the container, the frame hinders access to the inside of the container and the bows may be damaged by items passing through the opening, such as equipment or rocks, if contact is made. Aluminum or steel bows have to be straightened or replaced when they are bent. Plastic bows bend when they are hit but the frame is still in the way for loading large items and the bows are not as strong. Even regular exposure to small items, such as grain particles, will cause abrasion of the bows with extended contact over time. The bows in a fixed frame can be removed but this requires the driver to climb up on the trailer to remove the bows, which must be stored somewhere while the container is being loaded, and then reinstalled. When the bows are made of steel, they are heavy for the driver to handle and injuries do occur.
There are tarp bow systems wherein the bows swivel up and mostly out of the top opening. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,584 assigned to Wahpeton Canvas Co. South Dakota, Inc., describes a rope operated system wherein the bows are pivoted to a ridgepole and swung about angled receivers seven-eights of the way from the opening. The angled receivers and the bows sold by Wahpeton Canvas are made of steel as bows made of aluminum tubing that is circular in cross section would not be strong enough to be pivoted in the frame. Another ground controlled system, formed of steel, is sold by A.T.B. Inc. wherein one end of the bows is attached to a rod, which when rotated, lifts the other end of the bows up and mostly out of the top opening. Both the Wahpeton and the A.T.B. system are permanently mounted such that the frame is swung away only on the driver's side, requiring that the container be loaded from the left side. This is a serious limitation as loading from the left is not always convenient, or even feasible.
There is a need for a tarp bow and a complementary receiver that can be used to form a tarp frame which can be easily swung up, totally out of the way, from the left or right, by the driver. The bows should be light weight but strong so that they can be easily handled, remained attached to a side wall on one side of the container, out of the way during loading, but readily available for reinstallation. It is to this need that the present invention is addressed.